Being from Aus and having run a few races there, in Europe, and a few in the states, I have never seen such a neglect and lack of empathy for runners at, er, running events. Watching the bank up of runners trying to finish today’s Sporting Life 10k, I felt as if the organisers have never run in their lives.
The Sporting Life 10k and the Goodlife Marathon (I’m not calling this the Toronto Marathon, as the much better Toronto Waterfront Marathon deserves that credit) are apparently organised by the same people.
What are some of the highlights I’ve experienced and/or witnessed from either races from 2010 to 2013? Running next to cars on the same freakin road, major roads; waiting for cars; no water at the finish; water running out early on the course; and now, not being able to finish - these are all major fails that I’ve never seen in any other city I’ve lived in.
For whatever reason there’s a high acceptance of poor quality in Canada. By comparison, if the finish bank up happened at ANY race in Aus, people would start booing en masse. There would be a media shitstorm for weeks afterwards and the race would have half the participants the next year, and be dead the year after that if things didn’t change. Their reputation would be sabotaged. I can’t understand why people would shrug their shoulders here and accept that it has to be this way. It doesn’t.
I know there is some sentimental attachment to this race, and the Goodlife marathon, for being the oldest or whatever. But sentiment is not a green light for shit. It just can’t work like that. Likewise charity support doesn’t have to be channeled here. I wanted to support the charity but not the race, so I left the race alone and donated directly.
Canadians, you just need to stand up for yourselves a little better. There’s nothing shameful about that. If you’re not happy with this race, vote with your feet and don’t register for it. Sure, spread the word on blogs like this too and things will change.
Praise and support the well run races, dump on the bad ones. The Toronto Waterfront half marathon I ran in 2010 and 2011 is easily one of the best races I’ve ever run in the world! The Goodlife is a sham, and is easily the worst. That’s quite a range for the same city. Think about that.
You’d think that the opposite was true, with the number of people who continually support the poorer quality one. C'mon Torontonians, you deserve better than this.
